What is AI?
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AI stands for "artificial intelligence". It's the kind you use when you go to collect semen from a bull.
A very unpleasant job,best done when NOT expecting the preacher or friends with young children! 
I am AI'ing goats this year...2 so far...both took!YEH! and jersey in Dec. Really easier on cows than goats.And a lot easier than convincing that cow to get in that trailer.Have semen on a very nice jersey bull....hopeing for nice heifer calf.
magie
I am AI'ing goats this year...2 so far...both took!YEH! and jersey in Dec. Really easier on cows than goats.And a lot easier than convincing that cow to get in that trailer.Have semen on a very nice jersey bull....hopeing for nice heifer calf.
magie
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1,415 Posts
Magie,
Where did you learn to AI? I have 4 cows plus a bull, but would like to get rid of the bull and get one more cow. I would like to take the AI course at Washington State Univ., but it is only open to animal science majors. I work for the USDA at the university and could take the class on a fee waver if they would accept anyone.
Bob
Where did you learn to AI? I have 4 cows plus a bull, but would like to get rid of the bull and get one more cow. I would like to take the AI course at Washington State Univ., but it is only open to animal science majors. I work for the USDA at the university and could take the class on a fee waver if they would accept anyone.
Bob
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252 Posts
Just curious, how much did you pay to take the course. I took a course in 1970 offered by a bull stud (ABS), and it was just a little under $200 back then. I've been breeding my dairy cows and some of my beef cows AI since then, and I have a nitrogen tank.
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1,415 Posts
If I could take the course at the university, it would cost $5.00 for the fee wavier since I am considered staff. The courses offered by ABS and others costs $350 - $400 and the closest is 6 hours away plus housing.
Bob
Bob
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898 Posts
$350-$400 !!! 8O Sheesh! I've been showing folks how to do it for years for nothing!!! I learned as part of my animal science degree and worked as a lab tech for a university. One of my jobs was to teach grad students how to AI..... That was many years ago, but I still teach folks that only have a cow or two.
I am teaching a goat AI class in a couple of weeks for a 4-H club in Norman, Ok. In all honesty, if you can read, you can learn to AI. There are several animal science reproduction textbooks that can tell you how. It is a bit "up close and personal" for people new to livestock tho.....
Tana Mc
I am teaching a goat AI class in a couple of weeks for a 4-H club in Norman, Ok. In all honesty, if you can read, you can learn to AI. There are several animal science reproduction textbooks that can tell you how. It is a bit "up close and personal" for people new to livestock tho.....
Tana Mc
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1,415 Posts
Tana,
I have been reading quite a bit on it and would try it, but don't have a tank. What size do you have? I am trying to find someone local who has one or would like to buy one together.
Bob
I have been reading quite a bit on it and would try it, but don't have a tank. What size do you have? I am trying to find someone local who has one or would like to buy one together.
Bob
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898 Posts
I'd have to go and look but I think that my tank hold 250 straws. I have it pretty full and I am considering getting another one before the year is out. One for goats and one for cows..... it is the pits to be trying to find goat semen and pulling up bull stuff.....
Most larger cattle operations have a tank and nearly all dairy farms. Some of them are pretty generous about letting you store semen in their tank in exchange for paying for some of the liquid nitrogen on occasion. I allow people to keep one cane/year in my tank in exchange for them paying for one nitrogen fill up which runs $20 every six weeks. One cane holds 10 straws. Usually, I am the one who will AI their animal anyway so I just haul the tank with me when I go. I end up paying for 2-3 fill ups out of my own pocket.
This is my second tank in 11 years. They really last if you don't set them on concrete. I bought this tank because I just needed more straw space and here I am in the same situation again. I traded the old one in on this one.
Tana Mc
Most larger cattle operations have a tank and nearly all dairy farms. Some of them are pretty generous about letting you store semen in their tank in exchange for paying for some of the liquid nitrogen on occasion. I allow people to keep one cane/year in my tank in exchange for them paying for one nitrogen fill up which runs $20 every six weeks. One cane holds 10 straws. Usually, I am the one who will AI their animal anyway so I just haul the tank with me when I go. I end up paying for 2-3 fill ups out of my own pocket.
This is my second tank in 11 years. They really last if you don't set them on concrete. I bought this tank because I just needed more straw space and here I am in the same situation again. I traded the old one in on this one.
Tana Mc
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1,415 Posts
Tana,
How many liters does your tank hold? I've seen them on Ebay, but have been waiting until I decide if I want to sell my bull or not.
Bob
How many liters does your tank hold? I've seen them on Ebay, but have been waiting until I decide if I want to sell my bull or not.
Bob
I learned AI from dairies.I used to be DHIA tester and they just AI while the cow is in for milking.
Learned goat AI from friend.I have never taken a course,but tried twice to get in to AI class given by Langston...classes full!! both times.
It's been 10 yrs. since I did any AI but kinda' like riding bike...you make a few bobbles and go right back in stride.Guess I didn't do to bad...two breedings so far...both settled.
My tank is a Artic 22x,4 mo. holding time,1,000 straw cap. and cost $463 including shipping from: www.superiorsemenworks.com I like it because I can carry it without help and it's all the cap. I will need for a long time.Only have 1 breed goats and not too keen on sharing tank.
Union creek...if you can take the course for $5.00 JUMP ON IT!If you never do AI at least it's inexpensive knowledge!
magie
Learned goat AI from friend.I have never taken a course,but tried twice to get in to AI class given by Langston...classes full!! both times.
It's been 10 yrs. since I did any AI but kinda' like riding bike...you make a few bobbles and go right back in stride.Guess I didn't do to bad...two breedings so far...both settled.
My tank is a Artic 22x,4 mo. holding time,1,000 straw cap. and cost $463 including shipping from: www.superiorsemenworks.com I like it because I can carry it without help and it's all the cap. I will need for a long time.Only have 1 breed goats and not too keen on sharing tank.
Union creek...if you can take the course for $5.00 JUMP ON IT!If you never do AI at least it's inexpensive knowledge!
magie
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898 Posts
You mean like...... they always come into heat so that they have to be bred at midnight and it is below freezing, raining/sleet, the north wind is blowing at 35mph and the hussy has broken down the gate and gone to the back pasture???? You can't find a working flashlight, the truck won't crank, the horse crowhops for the first 30 minutes after you FINALLY catch him and will not do the gate opening thing he was specifically trained to do?
Meanwhile, Bossy is bellowing sweet nothings across a weak fence to the rank sale barn bull that your neighbor bought---- and you are begining to think that he reeeaaaally isn't THAT bad of a bull......
Tana Mc
Meanwhile, Bossy is bellowing sweet nothings across a weak fence to the rank sale barn bull that your neighbor bought---- and you are begining to think that he reeeaaaally isn't THAT bad of a bull......
Tana Mc
Tana Mc, I didn't realize that you'd been at our place With that description, you're going to convince a lot of folks to consider the AI experience. I would like to mention to all those folks considering purchasing used AI tanks to be very careful. If they've been left dry for too long or someone has improperly handled them, they can be unreliable. Anything from leaking completely to just a poor enough seal to either spoil your semen or cause more frequent refills.
With that description, you're going to convince a lot of folks to consider the AI experience. I would like to mention to all those folks considering purchasing used AI tanks to be very careful. If they've been left dry for too long or someone has improperly handled them, they can be unreliable. Anything from leaking completely to just a poor enough seal to either spoil your semen or cause more frequent refills.
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898 Posts
Most dairy barns (if they are grade A) have a concrete floor. These tanks are not terribly heavy but they are not featherweight either. I find that folks end up sliding them across the concrete floor and just wearing the bottoms very thin. All it takes is a small hole to break the insulating seal. These are really just big thermos jugs. It then " leaks"..... not really the nitrogen but just doesn't insulate well so that the nitrogen evaporates off quicky.
When the nitrogen is gone, theoretically in 90 seconds your semen is thawed out and very quickly dies.
I learned a sad lesson about tank upkeep.
Last fall, our dairy goat club sponsored a buck collection. One of the goat owners could not stay until it was all processed. So I told her that I would take her tank home and she could pick it up from there. She didn't do that. I checked on it and had it filled when the guy came around a few days after I brought it home. I then promptly forgot about it. The nitrogen guy comes around every 6 weeks. A month passes, my tank is still in the cardboard box I bought it in 5 years ago and well protected, but hers is an older used tank that looks like it has been kicked around a bit. One day, I pass by and see it and remember that she was supposed to have picked it up over 6 weeks ago...... I check it and------ totally dry. About $600 worth of semen dead. I am just sick, she is mad as all get out because I didn't check it regularly and I am looking like the bad guy. I did not pay to replace all that semen..... I am still not her favorite person and I only feel slightly guilty for offering to help out in the first place. I did give her some semen from one of my bucks that she liked. Then I found out several weeks later that she had somebody else's semen in there, too.
So now, I handle only my tanks and I check the nitro level every two weeks.
Tana Mc
When the nitrogen is gone, theoretically in 90 seconds your semen is thawed out and very quickly dies.
I learned a sad lesson about tank upkeep.
Last fall, our dairy goat club sponsored a buck collection. One of the goat owners could not stay until it was all processed. So I told her that I would take her tank home and she could pick it up from there. She didn't do that. I checked on it and had it filled when the guy came around a few days after I brought it home. I then promptly forgot about it. The nitrogen guy comes around every 6 weeks. A month passes, my tank is still in the cardboard box I bought it in 5 years ago and well protected, but hers is an older used tank that looks like it has been kicked around a bit. One day, I pass by and see it and remember that she was supposed to have picked it up over 6 weeks ago...... I check it and------ totally dry. About $600 worth of semen dead. I am just sick, she is mad as all get out because I didn't check it regularly and I am looking like the bad guy. I did not pay to replace all that semen..... I am still not her favorite person and I only feel slightly guilty for offering to help out in the first place.
I did give her some semen from one of my bucks that she liked. Then I found out several weeks later that she had somebody else's semen in there, too. So now, I handle only my tanks and I check the nitro level every two weeks.
Tana Mc
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19,689 Posts
Sounds like fun.Thats all I'm going to say!!!! :twisted:
big rockpile
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